Sam Sees A Star

A beautiful quote from Return of the King, chapter 12.

5×7 inches

Blank interior

White envelopes

This is a passage from my favorite book, The Lord of the Rings. This passage takes place in chapter twelve of Return of the King, as Sam and Frodo journey through the evil land of Mordor on the last weary leg of their quest:

“[H]igh up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach.”

Tolkien, a professor of Anglo-Saxon, deeply loved the Middle Ages, especially Germanic and Norse culture. The very name “Middle Earth” came from Old English word with similar roots as the Midgard of Norse Mythology. As a young man, he translated the Old English epic Beowulf, a work that heavily influenced Middle Earth. This is most obvious in the land of Rohan, whose names, customs, and mead-halls resemble Beowulf’s noble court of Heorot. In fact, the name Eomer, which Tolkien uses for a Rohirrim lord, is mentioned in one of the epic’s genealogies. The Hobbit also draws from Beowulf; it’s interesting to note that in both, it is the stealing of a goblet that first unleashes a dragon’s fury.

Given Middle Earth’s northern roots, I used a variation of the Celtic Uncial script, similar to the lettering found on Tolkien’s maps. The mountains below were inspired partly by the map of the Lonely Mountain, and partly by stained glass windows. I used my new and improved gesso to bind the gold leaf, and it turned out well. Harold Rabbit, seated on the H, blasts away on his shiny gold trumpet with pride.